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losses, and later with the necessity to bring crucial decisions
regarding the future life (Vlajković, 2000b).
Besides all this, in the last two years IDPs from Kosovo and
Metohija were faced with the transition changes of the current system
in their own country, disappearance of old institutions and creation of
new ones, i.e. the so-called birth of “democracy” on the ruins of war,
previous regime and international isolation.
For almost four years of their life in exile the Internally
Displaced Persons from the Prizren area of Kosovo (hereinafter
identified as PrIDPs) have dwelled in a vicious circle between the
wish to return to the homeland and awareness that the return is not
objectively possible at the present time. The non-existence of clear
legislative and, which is far more important, guaranties for personal
safety of the returnees to Kosovo and Metohija really applicable on
the field, the climate of insecurity that is still a part of everyday life in
places they were exiled from, actual impossibility to freely access
property, openly manifested reluctance of the extremists within the
Albanian majority to accept tolerance and reconciliation with the
returnees, are obstacles for the return of the non-Albanian population
to their homeland that they were forced to leave almost four years
ago. The right to return, which is not only a wish of the great
majority of them but also one of their basic human rights, is at
present only a fictional right. The situation in Kosovo and Metohija
has not been changing in a direction favourable for them: this area is
under the international administration of UNMIK, with very limited
freedom of movement for the non-Albanian population that lives in
strictly protected enclaves. This is how the U.S. Committee for
Refugees describes the current situation in Kosovo:
"Despite failing to show significant popular support among ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo during October 2000 municipal elections...ethnic
Albanian militants mounted well-organized acts of violence and
intimidation against minorities. Violence and threats were directed
particularly at would-be minority returnees to Kosovo... The threat of
violence continued to prevent the return of most displaced Serbs and
other minorities, including Roma, Ashkalis, and “Egyptians” (RAE) to
their homes in Kosovo... With an estimated unemployment rate of
more than 60 percent, and continuing crime, political instability, and
ethnic polarization, Kosovo was slow to recover from the full-scale
armed conflict of 1999. Both ethnic Albanian and ethnic Serb
militants strove to consolidate the ethnic divisions that they had
created after the deployment of NATO troops, called KFOR (for
Kosovo Force)...."(cited from the URL: http://www.refugees.org
/world /countryrpt/europe /yugoslavia.htm)
In 2000 IAN Research Team conducted a research on the
sample of 1630 PrIDPs, with the main purpose to provide useful
information on socio-demographic, educational and professional
characteristics of the Prizren area IDPs, on their living conditions, aid
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